Week 5: 49ers win another blowout, Bully Bills 45-3

After a dominant shutout victory on the road last week versus the New York Jets, the 49ers would duplicate their blowout performance on Sunday at home in a much cleaner fashion with a record-setting performance from the San Francisco offense. Hosting the Buffalo Bills, Alex Smith and company would string together arguably the best overall performance on offense in 49ers franchise history. Despite the 49ers' rich history, Sunday marked the first time ever that the team compiled over 600-yards of offense, finishing with a franchise-record 621 total yards, something that even all-time greats Joe Montana and Steve Young were unable to accomplish. San Francisco's offensive onslaught was also the most yards ever allowed by a Buffalo Bills team, surpassing the previous total of 598-yards which was also against the 49ers in 1992 and just so happened to be their largest amount prior to Sunday. 

Sunday's game was a game of firsts as 49ers QB Alex Smith threw for a career-high 237-yards in the first half before finishing with 303-yards on the day. Smith, Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter, Colin Kaepernick, Anthony Dixon, Bruce Miller and Kyle Williams all contributed in the run game to total 311 yards rushing, making this the first 49ers team ever with 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing. While Frank Gore led the way with 106-yards on the ground, both Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis eclipsed the century mark through the air with over 100 yards receiving. Crabtree, Kyle Williams and Mario Manningham all caught touchdown passes from Smith, with Gore, Dixon and Kaepernick all scoring on runs, including Kaepernick's second touchdown run in as many weeks. 

The game wouldn't all be about offense, however, as the 49ers defense stepped up and did its part by forcing two turnovers including one fumble and one interception. Meanwhile, San Francisco's only blemish came on a Colin Kaepernick fumble during the first half. Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick who coming into the game led the league in touchdowns with 12, was unable to get anything going against the stingy 49ers D which held the Harvard alum to only 126 yards through the air and no touchdowns. Buffalo's run game which has also been among the league's best was also kept quiet as C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson combined for only 53-yards rushing. The rest of the game would be smooth sailing as Buffalo's lone field goal came in the second quarter which at the time tied the game at three. After striking first in the first quarter with a David Akers field goal, the 49ers never looked back, scoring 42-unanswered points before going on to win, 45-3 and improving to 4-1 on the year. 

Preview & Prediction: Week 6 will see the 49ers get set to face off against the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants in a rematch of last year's NFC title game. Tied for first place in the NFC East, the 3-2 Giants are coming off a 41-27 triumph at home against the Cleveland Browns. With Eli Manning under center for the G-Men and playing just as well as anybody, at first glance I'd expect this game to come down to the wire just like it did the last two times these teams met. But coach Harbaugh who is saying Alex Smith's sprained finger on his non throwing-arm is "very much a concern" can make this game a lot more interesting if he chooses to give backup QB Colin Kaepernick more snaps than usual. Regardless of what coach Harbaugh does at quarterback, I still like the 49ers at home coming off of back-to-back blowout wins and expect them to improve to 5-1 on the year with a 24-20 victory. 

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